Those Not Forgotten
by shamanhearts
Summary: The Shaman Fight has ended, and everyone goes back to living their normal lives. But.. can one afford to forget his old friends? Based on the game Shaman King: Power of Spirit.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

With his chin resting on a palm while he stared at the mountainous scenery before him, Yoh lowered his eyelids and sighed. He had been looking forward to watching the sun rise, but somehow on that day, he wasn't quite in the mood. He had been thinking, lately, about the events that happened before, during and after the Shaman Fight. With so many things on his mind, he _needed_ to find some time to himself to think, and now that the time has finally come, he didn't know where to start.

The cool, morning breeze blew in, causing the tree branches and the leaves and other sorts of vegetation to sway in the process. Winter was near, and the breeze usually made a shiver run down Yoh's spine, but on that particular day, Yoh felt nothing. Absolutely _nothing_. He didn't know how he should _really_ feel. He didn't know if he should feel happy because the Shaman Fight was finally over, and he didn't have to go through any more of Anna's torturous training. And he didn't know if he should feel upset because he broke the promise he had made to her ten years ago. Somehow, Anna seemed to act as if nothing had happened, but Yoh still felt bad about it. He needed to come up of an idea to make up for his mistake, but _dang_, it was so hard to please his fiancé sometimes.

The was not a single spot of azure in the sky; everything was still grey and dark, as if a storm was coming this way. Despite it being morning already, the sun was barely visible - despite a few rays of light cutting through the thick clouds - and the dark atmosphere made the whole place seem gloomy and upsetting. This was unlikely for a place like Izumo. Yoh smiled a faint smile as a swarm of nostalgia began to overwhelm him; the atmosphere had reminded him of the first time he went to Osorezan.

Yoh, Anna and Amidamaru had gone to Izumo shortly after the Shaman Fight ended, so as to give their elders some blessings and whatnot. Much to Anna's dismay, Yoh's friends - including Manta - had tagged along, so it was like a whole party excursion to Izumo. Although they had already reached Yoh's grandparents' house a couple of days ago, Grandpa Yohmei still insisted that they stay, since the monsoon was frequent, and it would be unfortunate if they happened to get stuck in one. So, with much anticipation, Tamao had prepared all the spare rooms in the household for their visitors, and tried as best as she could to help all of them, especially Yoh. Anna, however, thought nothing much of this, since she was used to dealing with her fiancé's admirers all the time.

Yoh was grateful for the hospitality, but somehow he felt that they were being a bother to both his grandparents. He didn't think much about Tamao, seeing as she enjoyed doing chores. Then again, it was his grandfather who had told them to stay, so perhaps Yoh shouldn't worry much about such petty things.

"G-good morning, Y-Yoh," a shy, timid voice sounded from behind Yoh, and so he turned, despite already knowing who the owner of the voice was.

"Ah, good morning, Tamao," he replied, cheerful as always, and he couldn't help but smile as he noticed a slight blush beginning to form on the girl's cheeks.

"Th-th-the sunrise was pretty, wasn't i-it?" Tamao stammered as she struggled to hide her blush, but failed ultimately.

"You saw it too?" Yoh inquired, tilting his head in amusement. "How long have you been standing there?"

Tamao nodded, "For as long as you've been sitting here."

Yoh made no spoken response, and only widened his smile. He turned back to the mountains in the background, before sighing deeply, and getting to his feet. "You came here to call me for breakfast, didn't you?" he spoke up, causing the younger to blush once more. She nodded again, bringing forth a grin from the brunette. "I can't wait!" he claimed, stretching both his arms. "Your cooking is the best, Tamao!"

Tamao watched as Yoh laughed and proceeded walk down the corridor. This wasn't the first time he had complimented her on her cooking, but every time he did, she always felt as if her heart had grown wings and was flying its way to heaven. Then she would feel like falling to her death shortly after. She could never bring herself to behave - or even _think_ - properly whenever she was around Yoh.

"Tamao, are you coming?" he called out, stopping dead in his tracks. By now, he was already about three metres away from the girl.

"A-ah, yes...!" Tamao replied shyly, and she immediately ran to him. When she finally caught up with him, Yoh smiled and continued on his journey to the dining room, slackening his pace so Tamao wouldn't be left behind again. Secretly, Tamao was glad they were walking slowly; she could spend more time with Yoh, even if they barely talked to each other.

* * *

><p>"Aaaaahh! That was <em>soooo<em> good!" Horo claimed as he leaned back on the floor, rubbing his bloated tummy and belching in the process.

"_Disgusting creature_," Ren mumbled, before peeling the plastic seal off the milk bottle and drinking from it.

"What?" Horo yelled back in response, this time sitting upright and shaking a fist in front of the Chinese boy's face, as if threatening him. Ren purposely took no notice of him, and proceeded to drink his second bottle of milk.

"Hey! Don't you _dare_ ignore me!"

"Be quiet, you simple creature. I am trying to drink my milk."

"_Why do I have to be quiet for that_?"

"G-guys...," Yoh muttered, half-smiling. His two friends ignored him, and continued on their argument. Yoh laughed nervously as he turned to his fiancé beside him; a vein was protruding from her temple and it was even _twitching_. This didn't look too good...

"Your milk is of no importance to me!"

"What did you say?"

"I said, that milk is just a piece of crap!"

"Don't you dare say that about _my_ milk, you little insect _punk_!"

"I'll teach _you_ to call me punk, knucklehead!"

"Bring it on!"

"Kororo! In Ikupas— _oof_!"

"Bason! Into the Gw— _wahh_!"

The two boys were now lying on their heads, with their legs dangling in the air, and the both of them were in the positions of performing an Oversoul midway. Everything happened too fast; no one knew what exactly happened to them, but judging from Anna's devil glare and twitching hands, they assumed she had something to do with it.

"Young Master! What happened to you?" Bason cried as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and flailed.

"Just leave me be, Bason!" Ren yelled, shutting his eyes as an embarrassed blush began to form on his cheeks.

"_Hahahahahaha_!"

"What are _you_ laughing at, bluehead?"

"How is it that your pointy hair is able to balance you on the ground, huh?" Horo guffawed, as he proceeded to wipe tears off his face. Ren widened his eyes and his face flushed even more.

"_You're asking for it_!"

"You guys haven't had enough, have you?" Anna bellowed, her glare getting even scarier and devilish as she raised both her arms and proceeded to grab the boys once more. She began to swing them around violently, bringing forth torturous screams and yells for help from them. But you know Anna; _she wouldn't stop_. Not until she felt that she's punished them enough, anyway. The others stared in horror, their mouths agape; _Anna was being really scary today_!

"I-I suggest we should all just.. go out and have some fresh air for a while," Manta suggested. His voice was no louder than a whisper, but it was loud enough for Yoh, Amidamaru, Lyserg, Chocolove, Ryu, Tamao, their guardian spirits, and even Yoh's grandparents, to hear it, despite all the desperate cries for the devil to stop in the background. All of them - except for Yohmei and Kino - got up to their feet in unison, and they then proceeded to exit the room as quickly as possible.

Once outside in the corridor, they shut the door to the dining room and took several deep breaths of air. The air wasn't as fresh as it usually was, but it was better than breathing the same air as the _insane devil_. As if on cue, another cool breeze blew in, nearly blowing the shaken Tamao and Manta off their feet. The winds were getting stronger.

"I-I don't think we should go back in there for the time being..," Lyserg sweatdropped, and the others agreed.

"What are we supposed to do now? I wasn't done with my meal!" Chocolove complained, but the others simply responded by shaking their heads, or even giving him sympathizing looks.

"I know!" Tamao's face lit up. "You can all follow me to town! I need to get some groceries because I used up all of them to prepare the meals for you guys.. - " the others laughed nervously and apologized, " - Anyways, the nearest grocery store in this area is still pretty far from here, so you guys can accompany me and protect me from any sort of danger!"

"Of course! I'd do anything for you, missy!" Ryu claimed, his hairdo automatically forming the shape of a heart, and he puckered his lips. Tamao frowned and took a step back, using both her hands to shield herself from the man.

"Hey! Don't you get anywhere _near_ her!"

"Yeah! If you want to touch her, you'll have to go through _us_!"

At that moment, the spirits of a raccoon dog and a fox appeared out of nowhere, and kicked Ryu in the face in unison. The raccoon dog spirit then proceeded to slam his massive tail onto the man's head, while the fox spirit glided down to his lower region and, well, kicked him in the you-know-what.

"Ponchi! Konchi!" Tamao yelped, cupping her mouth with both her hands.

"Don't worry, Tamao! We've taken good care of that creep!" the raccoon dog spirit - Ponchi - claimed as he flashed his owner an accomplished grin.

"You... You didn't have to hurt him!" By this time, Tamao was already on the verge of tears, and she buried her face in the sleeves of her kimono. "I'm so embarrassed!"

"B-but, Tamao!" Konchi called out. "He was trying to hurt you!"

"Yeah! And he had the intent to outrage your modesty!" Ponchi added.

"_That's enough_!" Tamao scolded, throwing a hard punch to both her spirits. Ponchi and Konchi cried in pain as they were sent flying, before hitting their heads onto a wall and falling back onto the floor afterwards. Tamao's whole face was flushed, but whether that was due to her anger or her embarrassment was a mystery. The others stared disbelievingly at her, wide-eyed. _Did she just _punch_ them_? What happened to the timid and shy girl they knew just less than a month ago? What happened to her after the Shaman Fight ended?

"...Ah! I-I'm so sorry, everyone!" Tamao apologized and bowed constantly to her friends, causing them to sweatdrop. "I didn't mean to...!"

"It's okay," Yoh replied, grinning. Admittedly, he was amused by the girl's action, though it scared him to think that there was a possibility that she was going to end up like his fiancé in the future. "W-we'll just accompany you to the grocery store to - _you know_ - keep you safe... and stuff..."

"Y-yes! I really appreciate it!" said Tamao, bowing probably for the fiftieth time. "A-anyway, we should go back to our rooms and change. Walking around clad in a kimono wouldn't be nice.."

"You're right!" Yoh brought forth an embarrassed laugh and scratched the back of his head.

* * *

><p>"Alright, what else do we need?" Lyserg asked as he arched his neck to look at the next thing on the shopping list, which Tamao had oh-so-nicely written down for them, and herself. The incident about Anna and the house spirits had been long forgotten, and they were now in the grocery store, helping the pinkhead with her shopping. They had all changed to some decent clothes, thick enough to keep themselves warm from the cold.<p>

"I think we need - " Tamao fished out her pen and cancelled some writing on her list, before scanning it once more, " - Kai lan!"

"Kai lan?" Chocolove repeated, tilting his head in confusion.

"It's also known as _chinese broccoli_," Yoh explained, then he laughed. "Are you going to make a joke out of that?"

"Kai lan! K-Kai...," Chocolove slouched. "I can't think of anything..."

"Are these the vegetables you were looking for?" Lyserg asked, raising his hand to show a packet of small, white, flowery vegetables neatly packed in it.

Tamao shook her head," No, Lyserg, those are cauliflowers. We're looking for a vegetable with thick, fat and glossy leaves. They look like celery."

Lyserg nodded his head and went off to put the packet of cauliflowers back to where they belonged. He walked to the basket full of similar packets, and placed his own packet of cauliflowers gently in it. He looked up to read the signs - which have been fixated on the baskets - and began scanning every single one of them. Names of the vegetables available have been written onto the signs, so it was easier for the shoppers to find the groceries they needed.

Lyserg cursed himself; he should have brought his pendulum along with him. He had left in a hurry, and so his pendulum was still left unattended inside his haversack. His kanji wasn't very good either, so partially, he had to rely on Tamao's description of the vegetable to find it.

"Thick, fat, and glossy leaves... Look like celery... _Aha_!" Lyserg whispered to himself. Not far from him, in a green, rectangular basket, lay a huge pile of long, green, leafy vegetables. They fit Tamao's description perfectly. Lyserg walked briskly to it, and reached his arm out to grab one, but unexpectedly grabbed the hand of another shopper instead.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" he yelped, bringing his arm back. He turned to the other shopper; _hey_, he was curious. The hand he had just touched felt like it belonged to a girl.

"I should be the one to apologize," the other said, bringing her arm back as well. She furrowed her eyebrows and turned to see the owner of the hand that had just made physical contact with hers; she couldn't tell if it belonged to a girl or not..

With tied-up auburn hair and a pair of maroon eyes, the girl was dressed in a red striped, long-sleeved shirt, with a green jacket on top of it. The jacket had three bone-shaped buttons at the front, and even a checkered hood, which hung lazily from the girl's back. She also wore a pair of three-quarter length denim jeans, and a pair of sneakers. Her total outfit was complete with a silvery necklace, which was in the shape of a head of a wolf.

Something about her seemed so _familiar_...

"Umm, _hellooooo_?" she called out, waving her hand to bring Lyserg back to reality.

Lyserg blinked his eyes several times. _Holy shit_! He wasn't just imagining her, was he? Even her voice sounded the same! He had this urge to turn back and call for his friends, but something in him - his conscience, perhaps - had instructed him to stay and get his facts right.

There was only one thing he had to say to her...

"Meril?"

* * *

><p><strong>I really shouldn't be writing this. Especially when I'm still working on another multi-chapter fic, and getting to plan on yet <em>another<em> one. But I couldn't resist! I've had this plot stuck in my head for such a long time, and I couldn't just leave it there to rot and _die_. D: Also, do not let your ideas go to waste! Even if they're bad... Yes, I think this is a bad idea. I did not plan this at all, like how I'm planning Masquerade and my HaoxOC fic (I usually write them in a notebook before typing them on here), so I must apologize in advance if my plot fails to make any sense halfway.**

**Then again, I don't expect anyone to even read this! This is based on the game Shaman King: Power of Spirit, which - if I recall right - is for the PS2! It's a pretty old game.. Anyway, like most(?) Shaman King games, this game starts of with Yoh training to take part in the Shaman Fight, getting the Oracle Bell, battling Horo, Faust, and Ren, blahblahblah, then after he gets qualified, suddenly this girl Meril Inugami shows up at their celebration party. She claims to be a childhood friend of Yoh's, and that she's been training under Yohmei. Yoh and his friends believe her and they all go to America together. While on their quest to find the Patch village, suddenly a group of masked villains who call themselves Force Millennium attacks them, claiming that they will get Meril back no matter what. After some more fighting and confusion (and some hints from Hao), the group finally learns that Meril is an android created by Force Millennium, and she is going to be used as some sort of a vessel to hold some huge amount of furyoku, so FM could use the furyoku to control some robot called Zeobide. FM will use these two for some world domination thing, I don't remember. The leader of FM, Vinuvall, had implanted fake memories into Meril - whose _real name_ is Kalis - and claims that the _real_ Meril Inugami is actually still a shaman-in-training, though she knows nothing about Yoh, and his grandfather. Yoh and his friends choose to save Meril/Kalis from FM's control.**

**I only explained that for those who have never played or even heard of the game. I didn't explain in detail though; if you'd like, you may watch the full gameplay on YT. :D**

**Anyway, I already said that I don't expect anyone to read this... but I'm going to continue writing this fic until I complete it anyway! I don't think it's going to be very long.. Oh, well! Sorry for any mistakes! Oh, and a thousand hugs if you actually took the time to read this!**

**- A**


	2. The Photo

**The Photo**

"Huh? H-how do you know my name?"

Lyserg widened his eyes. _Did he hear right_? The very girl standing right before him didn't know his name at all? If he did his math right, it's been a few years since they had last met, and they never held a proper conversation together, but even so, they were close enough to acknowledge each others' names.

"Have you forgotten?" Lyserg asked, tilting his head. "We've met before. It was three years ago. We took part in the Shaman Fight together."

"The Shaman Fight...?" the girl - Meril - brought a finger to her lip and looked up at the ceiling, as if pondering over something. "Yeah, I heard about the Shaman Fight in Tokyo. Buuuuuut I never participated in it."

_This can't be_, thought Lyserg. _How was this possible_? He recalled the times when Meril would lose her voice cheering for Yoh during the Fight. He remembered the time when she complained about how the fish and banana soup Silva had made for her tasted funny. He even remembered the time when Meril almost walked into the room when Yoh was only getting dressed.

Lyserg shook his head, "I don't understand. I rememb—"

"_Oi_, Lyserg! What's taking you so long?" Chocolove called out, causing the English boy to stop halfway in his sentence and turn to him. Chocolove, along with the others, got to their heels and ran up to Lyserg, all of them with either confused or frustrated looks on their faces.

"Lyserg, the vegetable we're looking for is just right in front of you!" Tamao scolded, reaching her hand out to grab a handful of _kai lan_. She waved the vegetables angrily in front of Lyserg's face, before throwing them into the shopping basket. _Whoa, she can be _so_ uptight_.

"I-I'm sorry," Lyserg apologized as he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Guess I got distracted..."

"Are these your friends?" Meril asked, focusing her gaze on the other teens.

Lyserg nodded, "They're Asakura Yoh, Oyamada Manta, Tamamura Tamao, Chocolove McDonell, - " Lyserg tilted his head playfully, like he usually does whenever he meets someone new, and grinned, " - and then you have me, Lyserg Diethel." _I bet these names don't ring a bell_, he thought to himself whilst he continued to smile at the girl.

Yoh, too, scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. He forced a smile and pondered, "Have I seen you before?"

Meril shook her head blankly, "I.. don't believe so. Although, for some reason, your friend knew my name."

"_Now that you mention it, Yoh_," Manta said. "She does look sorta familiar."

"M-maybe we've met before in our past lives?" Meril suggested, arching both her eyebrows and shrugging in the process. _How freaky, _she had no clue who these people were, and yet they were talking about how they've seen her before. "Maybe I have a doppelganger?"

"W-wait, how do you guys know her?" Chocolove tilted his head in confusion. "I've never seen you before."

"I've seen you at the local clubs before," Meril said. "You are always doing some stand-up comedy there." Meril's short and thin lips curled to form a smile, as she brought forth a child-like giggle. "I think your jokes are funny."

"_R-really_?" Chocolove clasped both his hands together and his eyes began to sparkle, just like they usually do every time he catches someone laughing at his joke. "_Finally_! Someone else thinks that my jokes are funny!"

"_Sheesh_, no one cares about your jokes," Lyserg scoffed playfully, though it caused the African American to fall in defeat. "What I _really_ care about is how this girl looks _so_ familiar to us!"

"Your name - " Yoh spoke up, after having his moments of silence. " - what is it?"

"Meril," the girl replied. "Meril Inugami."

"...Yoh..," Manta muttered. "D-don't you think that names sounds.. o-oddly familiar...?"

"That's what I thought too," Yoh said, nodding his head. " 'Cept that the only Meril I know was originally named Kalis and she was... _not human_."

"_What_?" Meril yelped. "You mean there's some freak out there who's been using _my_ name without _my_ permission?"

"W-well... _how do I explain this..._?" Yoh laughed nervously. "If I told you _everything_, then it would be very confusing..."

"I don't care," Meril huffed, bringing both her hands to her hips and stamping her foot. "I have all the time in the world. _Explain to me everything you know about this.. non-human copycat_."

* * *

><p>"Soooo, basically," Yoh began after taking a sip from his soda. After getting some deafening nagging from Tamao and helping her buy the necessary groceries, they had all gone to the nearby fast food restaurant for a break. There, Yoh decided to explain to Meril about how she appeared to be so familiar to them. "There was a girl that just randomly appeared to us one day, and she claimed that she was my childhood friend. She was dressed exactly the same way you are right now, and introduced herself as Meril Inugami. It's weird; you two have the same name, same voice, and even the same appearance!<p>

"Anyway, we befriended her and since we were all qualified to the next round of the Shaman Fight, we traveled to America together," Yoh continued. "And there was this group full of weird and funny-looking people, who had this plan of taking over the world and remaking it."

"_That's horrible_!" Meril yelped, cupping her mouth with both her hands.

"They wanted to use you - _I mean_, Meril - to steal and store up a huge amount of furyoku, so that they would be able to control this scary robot called Zeobide," said Yoh. "So that was how we learnt that our friend Meril was really an android created by some bad guys.

"But.. even if she wasn't a real human," Yoh added, a faint smile beginning to form on his face. "Our memories of her are real. She was a good friend."

Meril nodded her head exaggeratedly, her mouth forming a perfect 'O'. Seconds later, her lips had already curled to form a sly smirk. "So the Meril you guys knew was a robot who could hold huge amounts of furyoku...," she summarised. _That's awesome_!"

The others' jaws dropped. "H-how is _that_ awesome?" Lyserg inquired.

"It just is!" Meril replied excitedly. "Anyway, what happened to her?"

The others simply turned to each other with blank expressions on their faces; some were even shrugging, causing the smile on Meril's face to fade. Soon enough, Yoh took up the courage to answer the girl's question, and he took a deep breath before replying, "We don't know."

Meril furrowed her eyebrows in frustration, "What? What do you mean you don't know?"

Yoh shrugged, "After the Fight ended, we went our separate ways. We don't know what happened to her after that."

At first, Meril was frowning. The others had honestly expected her to sulk about how she was never going to meet her robotic doppelganger. But then suddenly, Meril's face lit up and she immediately got to her feet and raised both her arms, as if she had won the lottery, and in the process, she had flung the food trays and sodas off the table, causing a mess all over. "That's _awesome_!" she cheered again. "That means my doppelganger is still out there! And there's a chance that I might be able to see her again!"

The others remained silent; the only response they managed was a sheepish laugh, as they all tried to ignore the annoyed glares they were getting from the other customers in the restaurant. This human Meril was no different from the android they had befriended during the Fight. "Sure, w-we can do that," Yoh said sheepishly. "O-only if you get the others to stop staring at us first."

"Then let's get out of here!" Meril suggested, and with that, she immediately skipped her way out of the restaurant hastily, leaving the others baffled.

* * *

><p>As they all headed back to the Asakura household, each of them explained to Meril about the times they had spent with her doppelganger when they were still together. Oddly enough, Meril was genuinely interested in hearing all of their stories; she showed no signs of freaking out after learning that there was a possibility of meeting her doppelganger. All of them began to wonder if she was actually serious about going out there to find the other Meril. Admittedly, even if she was, they didn't find that idea to be very bright; only the Great Spirit knows <em>what<em> this Meril was going to do with her clone.

"I can't wait!" Meril claimed, as she skipped alongside Yoh. "It'll be like an adventure! First, I'm going to check around in Tokyo, and every other parts of Japan. I'd go check the Aokigahara forest, too! And if I can't find her in Japan, then I'll use all the money I can get to go to America, since that's where the Patch Village was located. _And then I'll go..._"

"Err, Yoh?" Manta called out, his voice no louder than a whisper so Meril wouldn't hear him. "Is she really going to do all these things by herself?"

Yoh shook his head, "To be honest, I have no idea. But we can't just leave her alone. What if something happens to her?"

"That's not what I meant," Manta replied. "I mean, what about transport? And where is she going to stay? Does she even have the money to take the train from here to Tokyo?"

"She should be fine if she had enough money to go grocery shopping," said Yoh. "And I don't know if she's serious about going overseas, either. It'd be best if we convince her to stay here."

The diminutive boy laughed nervously as he watched said girl twirling around in circles as she talked about how she was going to treat her robotic clone like a sister. "...I don't know," he said. "The Meril we knew was a stubborn girl. Maybe _she_'s the same too."

"I hope not...," Yoh whined, though he already knew secretly that what his friend said was true.

* * *

><p>"We're home!" Tamao, Yoh, and the others greeted as they stepped into the household, one by one. The atmosphere was much more peaceful and still now, compared to the condition of it when they had left. Yoh couldn't help but wonder where Anna was and what she was doing. Then he thought about Horo and Ren; where were they? <em>Were they okay after having gone through Anna's divine punishment<em>? And what about Ryu? He was too hurt to move so he stayed behind with the house spirits. Did Ponchi and Konchi do anything to him while they were gone? What about Grandpa Yohmei and Grandma Kino? How were _they_ doing?

"Welcome back. We were wondering where you guys have gone," Yohmei replied calmly as he placed down his cup of lukewarm tea on the coffee table. It was still full to the brim, and Manta began to wonder if Yohmei had really taken a sip from it or not. "_Good, good_. You bought groceries."

Tamao nodded, "I used up most of the stuff to prepare the meals for Yoh and his friends. This time, I made sure I bought extra." Tamao walked hastily to the kitchen - followed by the others - and they all placed their grocery bags onto the kitchen cabinet. "By the way," Tamao raised her voice, so Yohmei would be able to hear her from the living room. "We've got another guest today."

"_Hmm_?" Yohmei raised a brow. "Who is it?"

"She's my friend," Yoh explained, walking out of the kitchen. "Her name's Meril Inugami."

"Hey there!" Meril cheered as she jumped out of nowhere and started waving both her arms at rapid speed, nearly giving the poor old man a heart attack. Meril took no notice of his expression, and proceeded to skip around the room excitedly. "This is _sooooo_ cool, Yoh! Your house is _soooo_ huge!"

Having regained his calm, Yohmei cleared his throat, causing Yoh to sweatdrop. "This isn't my house..," the teen said. "It's my grandpa's."

"Oh! Well, that's not surprising." Meril tilted her head playfully, as she plopped onto the cushion couch, "Nowadays, it's the old people who usually live in big houses, _not_ the young ones. I think that's unfair."

Yohmei turned to his grandson and narrowed his eyes at him, while Yoh simply laughed as a response.

"A-are you going to stay here?" he asked with the intention of changing the subject.

Meril shook her head, "My house is just nearby. I live alone, so it doesn't matter - " With this, Meril flashed a grin and shrugged, before continuing, " - I'm planning to start my search first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Wh-wh-_whaaa—t_? Are you serious?" Manta shrieked, causing the others to either fall back in their seat or jump in shock.

"Of course! Did you think I was kidding?" Meril quipped, furrowing her eyebrows at the diminutive boy. "I'm going to start searching for this other _Meril_ in crowded places, like Tokyo, Shibuya and Harajuku, before I check the other cities. If I still haven't found her by then, then I'll go search for her in the outskirts and villages. Then I'll check the hills and mountains and woods... And if I'm done with searching the whole country and I _still_ haven't found her, then I'm going to travel to America!"

Ignoring the old man's confused expressions, Lyserg spoke up, "Searching around the whole country is going to take up a lot of money _and_ time. Are you sure you want to do this alone, Meril?"

Meril nodded excitedly, like a little child, "Even if it takes me my whole life just to find her! And if I'm lucky, I might even find those Force Millennium guys with her, too! Then I can beat them up for using my name without permission!"

"_Force Millennium? Well, that sounds rather familiar_..."

Everyone turned their heads to the doorway, where at that moment, a short boy with a slight build entered the room, followed by another who had hair all over his face. The two boys were joined with a much taller man, who had the craziest hairdo amongst them all. The three of them were bleeding and bruised at all sorts of places, with their clothes torn and their limbs numb. Besides Meril, everyone else either snickered or stared at them in horror as they slowly entered the room and pretended as if nothing happened.

"Yes, Force Millennium. The guys who made a robotic copy of me," Meril replied, cheerful as always, though she tried to brush the mental images off her mind. _Only the Great Spirits know _what_ the hell happened to those guys._

"_Humph_!" Ren scoffed, his eyes closed and his arms crossed. "Who would want to create some robotic copy of a petty girl like you?"

"Hey! I _am_ not petty! And it's true! Your friend Yoh explained to me everything!"

Ren opened an eye and turned to Yoh, who simply shrugged at him. He then shifted his gaze and fixated it onto the redhead, who seemed to be narrowing her own eyes at him, as if telling him that she _will_ get her revenge for calling her something just as mild as... 'petty'.

With his other eye open, Ren widened both his eyes. Even his lips parted and a stifled gasp made its way out, showing Ren's genuine shock. After a few seconds, he finally managed to voice out with what little voice he had left, "Y-Yoh.. Isn't that—"

"_YOOOHHH! Isn't that the girl? The girl that was said to be a robot? The girl we almost killed? The girl that was controlled by those weird people?_" Horo and Ryu suddenly began flailing all around the room, their hands and feet flying everywhere, as if to emphasize on every single word they screamed. Ren twitched, seeing as how the two idiots he hated the most had interrupted him.

Yoh forced a laugh, but Meril cut in before he could say anything, "Just to let you guys know, I am, _in no way_, a robot! And I don't know what exactly happened between you and my android doppelganger, but you guys are looking at the _real_ Meril Inugami here, and starting from tomorrow morning, - " Meril jerked a thumb at herself, " - I am going on a quest to find my doppelganger!"

The others stared at the girl, their mouth agape. They were confused and speechless. For one, _this_ Meril was just as uptight as the android one, and it was as if she had split personalities, or something like that. A good thing about Meril, though, was that she knew how to stand up for herself. _And_ she was determined. Though it was hard for them to tell if she was being serious or not...

Quietly, Horo crept up to his brunette friend and leaned in to whisper into his ear, "_Oi_, did Force Millennium brainwash her again?"

"_I HEARD THAT_!" Meril quipped, grabbing a nearby umbrella and bringing it up above her head, poised as if to whack it against the bluenette. As a response and a form of self-defense, Horo immediately crouched and held both his hands high above his head.

Ren sighed, and tried as best as he could to ignore the two teens who were getting in a one-sided fight, "And yet we have another joker with us..."

Immediately, the umbrella made a turn and hit hard on Ren's head, causing the bruised part to swell. Ren ran his hand over the mild wound and turned, snarling at the redhead standing confidently behind him. "I'll teach _you_ to play with my head!" he yelled, and pulled out his _guan dao_ (from goodness knows where). Both Ren and Meril then began jumping around the room, swinging their weapons around in hope that they would hit and wound the other. The others had all retreated to the kitchen, where Tamao, Yoh, Manta and Lyserg were; all of them wanted to see who was going to emerge as the winner of this battle. Both the teens were completely oblivious to the poor old man sitting in the middle of the room, his hand still holding on to the cup of tea, and his eyes closed. Thank the Great Spirits he was a patient man.

One other person, though, was not as patient.

"_Both of you_! _Stop right now_!"

Ren and Meril immediately stopped their swinging and moving about, and both lay suspended in midair for a second, before falling to the floor and landing hard on their backs. Groaning, they both brought themselves to sit up, rubbing themselves in either the back or the head to ease the pain.

"You guys need to stop fighting and arguing over small matters!" Everyone turned to Tamao, whose entire face was flushed with anger. She was breathing heavily, as if she had just used up all of her strength to yell.

Everyone remained silent. They stayed rooted in their positions, and watched as Tamao regained her calm, before walking to the middle of the room. "_You_! - " she pointed to Meril, who arched a brow in response, " - I want you to leave this neighborhood by eight tomorrow morning! You can go find your clone or robot or whatever; just as long as you get outta here! And _all_ of you guys here - " Tamao turned and pointed at the other teens, " - are to leave with her! I don't want any objections, get it?"

"_WHAT_?" they all yelled in unison, completely taken aback. "Why must we go with her?" Horo yelped. "What did we do to deserve this?"

"I said,_ I don't want any objections_!" Tamao snapped, causing the Ainu to step back and gulp. As she took a deep breath, Tamao raised her head and scanned the room once again, causing a shiver to run down everyone else's spines. "I want you guys, now," she added. "To walk back to your rooms, and pack your things. Tomorrow, you leave for Tokyo. Are you all clear?"

The others nodded sheepishly, and without any further ado, they hastily got their feet moving and began exiting the room, leaving Tamao alone with Yohmei.

The old man said no words, and merely curled his lips to form a smirk, before taking a proper sip of his awfully cold tea. Tamao let out a deep sigh and slouched, going back to her normal child-like attitude. Seconds later, Anna stepped out of the nearest bedroom and began clapping her hands in both amusement _and_ amazement. "I'm glad, Tamao," she said, catching the younger's attention. "You've grown a lot."

Tamao sighed again, "I did the best I could.. I was getting tired of seeing people fight all the time. Now that the Shaman Fight has ended, I don't see the point in fighting anymore..."

Anna walked up to the girl and patted her lightly on the shoulder, in a more praising-the-little-child way. "Kids will be kids," she said, referring to the teens whom had just left the room.

Tamao raised her head and shifted her gaze to Anna so suddenly that Anna was almost caught by surprise. "Are you going?" she inquired. "Are you going to follow them to search for that girl's robot?"

Anna closed her eyes, "No.. I don't have to."

"Why? Aren't you worried?"

"The Shaman King has been chosen. No one out there is going to threaten Yoh, and his friends. Besides, I know you're only telling them to do this because you knew that Yoh had wanted to help that girl all along."

Tamao nodded slowly, "But.. what about that girl? Don't you think there's something.. _funny_ about her?"

Anna began walking in the direction of the kitchen, turning her face away so she would face neither Tamao nor Yohmei. "I _am_ a little suspicious of her," she announced. "But I don't want to do anything about it right now. I guess.. we'll just have to wait until the time is right."

With that, Tamao nodded once again, and caught up with Anna in the kitchen. It was time to prepare for their lunch.

* * *

><p>"Can you believe it? I thought Tamao was a nice and shy girl! She turned out to be just as vicious as that fiancé of yours!" Horo complained as he tried to tie a strap around his snowboard. It was probably his twentieth time doing so; he was too frustrated to prepare his things properly for departure the next morning.<p>

Yoh shrugged, "It just shows that Tamao cares. We can't really blame her." Yoh zipped up his haversack, leaving only his kimono, his towel, a set of decent clothes and his headphones untouched. "She's right. We _are_ always picking fights over the littlest things."

"I'd like to say I agree with Yoh," said Ren, as he began folding his _guan dao_. "But all this wouldn't have happened if not for the other three jokers."

Horo and Ryu turned and narrowed their eyes at Ren - Meril had gone to her home to pack her things - before turning back and scoffing and continuing on their own packing. No point getting in a fight now, after getting scolded by one of the nicest people each of them had ever met in their entire lives.

Realizing his haversack was still pretty heavy, Yoh decided to repack his things. He unzipped it, brought it up in the air and overturned it, causing all the items in it to fall onto the floor and scatter everywhere. Yoh scanned the messy floor before him, pondering over what he should bring and what he should leave behind, until a certain item caught his eye..

He reached his arm out and grabbed the thin piece of paper, flipping it over, only to cup his mouth with his free hand and let out a stifled gasp. The others noticed this, and they all ran over to Yoh's side, trying to get a glimpse of what was on the piece of paper he was holding.

There were no words written on it. Just colours. Pixels and pixels of colors, all placed and combined to form a printed photo.

* * *

><p><strong>LOL stupid chapter with a stupid title written with stupid grammar. But at least I finished it! xD So, what do you guys think is on the photo, hmm? I don't really want to say much in my AN. I don't have many things to talk about either... so yeah! That's it, guys! Oh, and if you guys have any questions regarding this fic and/or the game, be sure to ask me and I'll reply to you personally. :) Sorry for any mistakes!**

**- A**

**P.S. I can't believe there are actually people who read this fic. Why you guys no review (except for a couple)? xD Also.. I almost typed 'neighborhood' as 'neighborboob'. /shot**


	3. Departure

**Departure**

"Yoh...," Horo managed to mutter with what little voice he had left. "Where did you get this?"

Yoh shook his head slowly. "I don't know..."

Everyone who had crowded around the shaman continued to stare at the photo, baffled. No one seemed to know where the photo came from. Unknown only to Chocolove, everyone knew that Yoh had given said photo to the android Meril years ago. He wanted her to keep it, so that she would be reminded of the only _real_ friends she ever had. The day after that, she was gone. No one knew why or where she had disappeared to. They'd spend time to search around for her, but they already had to depart to Mu.

The fact that the exact same photo was in Yoh's very hands only confused the teens even more.

"Meril couldn't have gotten here..," Yoh muttered. "..We never saw her after that, did we?"

"But how could it be here, then?" Manta shrieked. "Unless the other Meril had sneaked into the room last night and placed this photo inside your haversack, there's no way this photo should be here! I-it's freaky!"

"And what baffles me even more is that this photo was placed at the very bottom of the haversack," Yoh pondered, furrowing his eyebrows and rubbing his chin as he examined the photo.

Chocolove then snatched the photo from the brunette, turning it in various ways, examining it and even sniffing it for reasons even the Great Spirit didn't know. "Hmm," he hummed, eyeing the photo like a professional. "So you're saying this redhead in the photo, – " he pointed his chubby finger at the cheerful girl in the photo. She looked very much like Meril, except that she was smaller, and she had much shorter hair too. Her hair wasn't even tied up, " – is the robot you guys befriended?"

The others nodded.

"And this silly looking boy here, – " Chocolove proceeded to point at the boy standing right next to the girl. He was slightly taller than her, and had brown hair that went to his shoulders. " – is Yoh?"

Everyone nodded except for Yoh, who only laughed nervously in response.

Chocolove narrowed his eyes at the photo. "But this was taken when you guys were kids!"

"The Meril we knew showed us that photo when we met her for the first time," Yoh explained, keeping a straight face on as he tried to recall of the time when the android Meril randomly appeared at his house after his battle with Ren. "I didn't bother much about the photo then, probably because I was too thrilled to celebrate after learning that I've been qualified to participate in the Shaman Fight.

"I also used that photo to help Meril find her true self after being brainwashed by Force Millennium," Yoh added, as he closed his eyes and smiled in content. "That's why I gave it to her."

The atmosphere was silent; no one could think of anything decent to say. Deep down, they were still asking themselves why the photo was with Yoh in the first place. How did it get there? Where was the android Meril? Should the real Meril they know now learn about this bizarre photo?

With one deep sigh, Chocolove finally let go of the photo and watched as it fluttered slowly to the floor, like a dry leaf falling from a tree. Yoh smiled as he took the photo and placed it right next to his headphones, before proceeding to repack his haversack once more.

"Are you planning to show that photo to Meril?" Horo asked, staring inquiringly at his friend.

Yoh nodded. "It could be a form of motivation for her." He had barely placed two items into his haversack when he leaned back onto the wall and grinned. "All this thinking and packing is making me hungry!"

**x-X-x-X-x**

Both excited and frustrated, Meril fished out the memorial tablet from her pocket and slammed it onto the table, scowling to herself. The spirit of a wolf made its appearance right next to the tablet, whimpering as it rested its head on its paws and looked up at its shaman. Meril seemed to be mumbling something and moving her lips in a mocking way, before kicking the chair beside her. The wolf spirit whimpered again, this time in a much softer voice.

Meril turned to the spirit, and immediately a great feeling of remorse and sorrow began to overwhelm her. She sighed and fell back onto the chair, lifting both her feet and resting them onto the table afterwards. "What is this feeling, Fenrir?" she asked the spirit, who only stared back in response. Meril knew it couldn't speak, but having someone to talk to was much better than nothing. "I feel so.. _annoyed_, and yet, I'm excited! It's funny, isn't it? It's like being happy and upset at the same time!"

The wolf spirit - Fenrir - barked in a somewhat enthusiastic way, causing the shaman to laugh. "I know that..," she replied. "I should really learn to control my temper better. It's the reason why I never survived school, anyway."

Fenrir brought a paw to its head, as if to feel ashamed by Meril's response. Some humans just don't get a clue.

"Anyway!" Meril bounced, causing her spirit to sit upright. "Guess what, Fenrir?"

It didn't have to guess anything.

"Tomorrow morning, we're going to Tokyo! For the first time!" Meril leaned in to her spirit and grinned. "We're going to find my doppelganger! What do you think of that, huh?"

Fenrir raised its brows and tilted its head at Meril.

"Well, while I was at the grocery store just now, I met these bunch of other kids who claimed to have seen me before! And I swear – I don't even know them! Then they started telling me about how they've met a robot who looks exactly like me; she even has the same name as me, too! Oh, and she was made by some people who called themselves the Force, uh,_ Linoleum_... or something.

"Isn't that great, Fenrir?" Meril added. "We're going on an adventure! A real adventure! To find the robot!"

While Meril twirled around in circles, Fenrir barked loudly, as if it was thrilled and delighted about the thought of going on an adventure. No more lazing around and sleeping all day. And now, if Meril was ever going to use it for combat, it was going to be for defending herself, _not_ training! Besides, this would probably be the only chance for Fenrir to show its shaman what it was capable of.

As Meril skipped excitedly to her room, Fenrir turned to lay on its back, with its paws in the air. Finally, some action! Oh, how it waited so long for this time to come.

* * *

><p>It was still dark, for the team had decided to leave before dawn. Everyone stood in the room as silence filled the air, which was broken every few moments by the occasional cough or sniffle. Everyone from the team – Yoh, Ren, Horo, Ryu, Manta, Lyserg, and even Chocolove – waited impatiently for Grandpa Yohmei to give them his words of advice. But the sooner that happened, the sooner they had to depart.<p>

Yohmei took a sip of his now-lukewarm tea, before clearing his throat. It caused the team to stir again, exhaling deeply one by one. Yohmei opened his eyes, and scanned every one of the teen, as if he was judging them. Then, with another sip of the tea, he began, "Well, just make sure you come home safely as soon as possible."

Everyone else raised their brows and stared at the old man. "That's it?" Horo asked plainly, but only received a piercing glare from Yohmei as a response.

Yoh managed a grin. "Thanks, Grandpa. ...You stay safe, too."

Yohmei couldn't help but smirk. "Fool. You don't need to tell me that."

Yoh was just about to respond with another one of his cheeky smiles when he caught sight of someone else at the kitchen doorway. His muscles relaxed, and he flashed her a genuine smile. "Anna," he said. "Did you come to see me off?"

Anna began to walk towards her fiancé, the expression on her face unreadable. When their faces were only inches apart, she finally said, "Take care." Though the expression on her face was unchanging, her voice held a tint of concern.

Yoh nodded. "You too. Take care of Tamao and Grandpa for me," he replied, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

Anna grabbed hold of Yoh's free hand, and tightened her grip on it as she brought it closer to her. Confused, Yoh watched as the girl placed a small red pouch onto the center of his palm. He wrapped his fingers tightly around it, feeling the soft fabric brush against his hard skin. Anna let go of his hand, and only stared blankly at Yoh. Yoh stared back, unsure of what to say.

"Keep it safe," said Anna. "You'll need it."

"I will."

And, for the first time in several months, Anna smiled. _Pure_, _genuine_, _loving_. That was the kind of smile everyone had caught present on her face, but unfortunately, it didn't last for long.

"Y-Yoh...!" A flustered Tamao came stumbling out of the kitchen, in her hands, a similar pouch. Unlike Anna's, her pouch was pink, and was much larger. Tamao struggled to find the right words to say when she reached the boy, but the only thing that escaped her lips was her saliva. Embarrassed and fed up with herself, Tamao forcefully placed the pouch in Yoh's hands.

"P-please come home safely...!" she gasped, looking away from both the brunette _and_ his fiancée. "When you do, I-I'll prepare a meal just for you...!"

Yoh's face lit up upon hearing those words. "Wow, for real?" He laughed. "That's great! I can't wait till the day I get to taste your cooking again, Tamao! It's simply amazing!"

Tamao's face got even redder, but she tried her best to ignore that. "I-I hope you'll be able to find your friend soon!"

Yoh nodded. "We will. I'm sure of it."

Horo deliberately groaned loudly and got to his feet, just when Tamao had barely opened her mouth to say something more. "We're going to miss our train if this goes on," he complained, rolling his eyes.

Yoh smiled apologetically at Tamao. "I'm sorry, but he's right. We have to get going now."

The girl shook her head. "No, it's fine. I understand completely.. G-good luck on your trip!"

"Yeah, good luck," Anna and Yohmei added in unison, and Yoh responded with a determined nod.

Then, with a wave and an exchange of blessings, the team left, without turning back. They left the household with no regrets. They left Tamao, Anna, and Yohmei standing alone in the room in silence.

Ponchi and Konchi then appeared with a '_poof!_' beside their shaman, causing her to jump in shock. "_Soooo_?" Konchi began, narrowing his eyes at the girl. "What did you give him, _hmm_?"

"Is it a love letter?" Ponchi teased. "Or perhaps something even better than that?"

"S-stop it!" Tamao yelped. "What I gave him is none of your business!"

**x-X-x-X-x**

"You guys are so slow!" Meril complained, displaying a pout that would only be considered 'cute' by someone with the likes of Ryu. "I can't believe you guys made me wait for almost half an hour! I probably looked like an idiot, standing by that old beggar over there!" Sitting on the ground a few metres away from the team was a large man dressed in a Native American outfit, a large supply of trinkets displayed before him.

"Shut up," Ren replied. He snatched a thin slip of paper from Horo's hands. "The important thing is, we didn't miss our train."

"What did Tamao and Anna give you, Yoh?" Lyserg questioned the brunette, complete oblivious to the argument that was going on between Ren and Meril. It was a matter of time before the both of them performed an Oversoul and began fighting physically in public. "I'm jealous; you got gifts from two _very_ pretty ladies."

Yoh couldn't help but blush at his friend's comment. "Don't say that," he responded. "You'll only make me feel bad." Yoh fished out the two pouches from his haversack and stared intently at them. "Do you think I should open them now?"

Lyserg shrugged. "That's up to you. I mean, they must be pretty important." He pretended not to hear the terrified shrieks Manta was producing in the background.

Yoh had to agree; Anna was his fiancée, after all, so whatever she gave him must be something.. personal. Whereas for Tamao; he wasn't that close to her, but she was still his best friend, and Tamao usually did all she could to help him. To have a pouch given by her wasn't such a big deal, but somehow Yoh didn't feel comfortable at the thought of opening them in the presence of his friends. Tamao probably wouldn't feel comfortable with that, too.

His chain of thoughts was broken by an announcement over the intercom, reminding its passengers that the train to Tokyo would leave in less than five minutes. It surprised Yoh and his friends; they were far too engrossed in their thoughts and activities that they had barely noticed when the train arrived at all!

The team managed to board the train before its doors were preparing to close. The teens got a seat each and relaxed; the trip to Tokyo would take at least an hour, so the most they could do was sit back and catch up on whatever sleep they were lacking.

When the train had begun moving, Ren couldn't help but examine the car they were in. It was empty, and he didn't like it one bit. It made him feel _vulnerable_. And, there was something else. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on. "Does anyone realize anything.. _strange_ about this place?" he spoke up, furrowing his brows. He could hear his voice's echo bouncing off the walls of the car. "This place is... empty."

Horo yawned. "What did you expect? It's still early. Everyone wants to stay in bed and sleep their heads off."

Ren frowned. "No, that's not it. I just feel.. like we shouldn't be here."

"Oh, just relax," Meril replied, placing both her hands behind her head. "You're probably just tired."

Ren wished that was the case, but it wasn't. He couldn't help but notice when a faint silhouette of a woman's body flew past the windows.

* * *

><p><strong>Hello, good morning, or good night. I don't know which greeting is appropriate at the moment so I'm just going to leave that as it is. I don't have much to say about this chapter, except that my head hurts and so my grammar probably sucks in this. It was in the midst of typing out this chapter when I realized that I was turning Yoh into a... pimp? xD Not really, but I kinda wanted to have equal numbers of YohxAnna, YohxTamao and YohxTamao scenes in this entire fic. Although I think Meril and Ren are getting a little bit too attached to each other. D:<strong>

**I'm sorry for any mistakes! My nose feels awful. Dear god, let me bath in the pool of insanity already.**

**- A**


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